It is well known that the health and well-being of older persons is closely correlated with their economic well-being. Attempts to assess the economic status of older persons, whether for the purposes of program administration or evaluation, policy making, or academic research, however, have been hampered by a lack of knowledge of what constitutes a minimum or adequate income for the aged or how to compare the incomes of the aged to those of the non-aged. The Poverty Index and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Family Budgets and their associated adjustments for age and family size have been criticized for their reliance on 'expert' opinion and their use of food consumption as a basis for making adjustments. This project, in contrast, will use survey methods to measure income norms directly and produce minimum income amounts and equivalence scales of direct relevance to the needs of older persons. It will use a promising new method for measuring income norms and data from the nationally representative Income Survey Development Program 1979 Research Panel. This method uses a question about the minimum income that respondents need to 'make ends meet.' Regression techniques are used to solve for the point at which respondents in different circumstances, such as those defined by age and family size, identity their own income as the minimum adequate income. This project will measure the nature and magnitude of age-linked differences in needs for income and in the adequacy of incomes. It will thereby contribute to a better understanding of the economic well-being of older Americans, and potentially contribute to the effectiveness of existing income maintenance and in-kind benefit programs that affect older persons. Finally, the project will look at the implications of adopting these survey based methods for policy purposes.